traditions
Fun Facts You Never Knew About Your Zodiac Sign
The zodiac signs we are born under afford us certain personality traits, talents and gifts in our lifetime. Over the course of one’s life you can typically see these traits in an individual’s personality and life choices.
Astrology has been around for centuries and offer us a special insight into our life path. The Zodiac signs can be a lot of fun to investigate, even for the lay person. If you look closely at the traits of your own sign you will most likely discover many accurate descriptions of your personality in your sign that may be hard to deny.
You may also come across certain traits and fun nuggets of information that may surprise you. For example, it has been noted by astrologers that some of the zodiac signs tend to lean more towards having stronger psychic ability. These are known as the so-called ‘psychic signs,’ namely Cancer, Pisces, Scorpio and Libra.
If you were born under one of these signs, but do not consider yourself psychic, then you may want to take another look. It could be that you are more gifted than you realize, but you are not making proper use of your psychic talents.
Another fun principal of astrology centers on those who are born on the cusp between two signs, meaning they have trails of both signs. For example, those born on April 19 or 20 on the Aries-Taurus Cusp are literally ‘born leaders’ because they have the natural leadership traits of Aries combined with the inner strength and bullish perseverance of Taurus.
Another interesting ‘born leader’ is the Pisces-Aries Cusp born March 19 to 26. They strike the perfect balance between being a dreamer and idealist, while also being a determined, tough, and sometimes highly opinionated ‘go-getter.’ They bring the best of both worlds to innovative leadership positions that require imagination and an unconventional approach.
The Mystical Cycle Of The Moon
Traditionally many cultures worldwide centered their spiritual practices around the Moon and the phases it cycles through once approximately every 29 days. These phases reflect the Moon’s journey around the Earth, revealing a little more or a little less of this mysterious satellite.
Much like the cyclic seasons of the year, the Moon’s phases represent different aspects of personal contemplation for the spiritual practitioners and metaphysicians. The Moon represents our intuitions, hidden aspects of self, and the nurturing empathy a mother would show a child.
The New Moon begins and ends each lunar cycle. As a ‘blank canvas’ it suggests new beginnings, or the completion of a full circle. This is the starting point for working with the Moon’s phases. Time your lunar calendar each month around the New Moon. Note, it will not be visible, but instead a dark circle. Use a white candle or another source of light to represent the fully illuminated Moon that is to come and start new ideas or projects.
As the Moon grows in size it goes into its ‘waxing’ phase. It will first become a crescent shape a quarter of the way in its orbit around the Earth, and later a wedge shape called gibbous. As it grows, so too will you and your ideas. Each day, ask yourself what is going right. Ask the Universe for guidance and inspiration, and remember that it’s all right to change plans or make revisions.
As the Moon is in its growing phase, each day a little more of its surface is cast in light. The Moon also rises an hour later each day in the cycle. Its many craters are a reminder that despite perceived flaws, something can be wonderful when illuminated.
We are all awed by the sight of the Full Moon glowing in the sky. This is the time in the cycle when we can enjoy the fruits of our efforts, and also examine what worked or did not work in practice. This is also the time in the lunar cycle when emotions run at their highest, so be careful of acting too impulsively. Be sure to also show gratitude and humility for what you’ve accomplished so far.
The Old-Fashioned Ways Of The Good Ol’ Days
I grew up the old-fashioned way. I remember my grandparents would talk around the family table about the time when they were young. Listening to them was more interesting than reading a history book. It made me wonder how they managed to survive in those days, living a simple life off the land, growing their crops and later owning their very first black and white television set.
My grandmother was also a psychic and she was a firm believer that gifts from the souls from the past can be handed down to generations, to help others and give them a sense of what life truly has to offer. She taught me that we can learn from the past and the wisdom of the lessons learned by those who came before us.
Thinking of my grandparents makes me nostalgic for the good old days of the old-fashioned psychics. Back then they did not use the radio or TV, and much less the Internet and social media, to promote their psychic services. People usually came to psychics through word-of-mouth and personal recommendations, not YouTube and Instagram.
Fortunately, referrals remains one good practice from the past that continues to this day, and it has not changed all that much, despite all the new technology. Like the old days, if you give someone a good reading and ‘rock their world,’ next thing you know their friends are also calling to get a psychic reading from you.
I guess not all that much has changed from the old days? The only difference that new technology brought is the great opportunity psychics now have to reach so many more people all over the world. It enables us to touch the lives of many that would not have been possible in the old days.
How To Clear Your Karma
Karmic cycles are repetitive patterns in consciousness that emerge through a belief that is contrary to the laws of the Universe.
Some religions and spiritual teachings refer to humanity as the ‘children of God.’ When I use the term ‘God,’ I do not mean some off-world deity that is separate from us mere mortals. To me God is the All. It is the Creative Force. Being a ‘child’ of this Creative Force means that we have the same nature and creative capacity.
Many wisdom traditions also equate words, thoughts and consciousness with God’s ability to create. In other words, thought has a creative function in the Universe. Thoughts are words, images, and stories that are repeated in the mind and they have creative power.
Another way of saying this is that whatever we choose to think or believe about ourselves and others, and about the world around us, ultimately becomes true for us. This is important when discussing how to clear away old karmic patterns.
Karma are patterns of thought that are repeated in the mind and influence how we create our life experiences. Free will means that we have total freedom in what we choose to think and believe.
This is not to say that a specific thought, or even a behavior, is wrong or bad. In fact, the Universe or God always takes us at our own value and says yes to all our thinking and feeling patterns.
Karma is a secondary spiritual law to the Law of Attraction, that allows us to evolve continually into our higher potentials. From an esoteric or spiritual perspective this relates to the expansion of love, joy, and peace within our mind.
Karma and the Law of Attraction are also separated by a protective buffer, in that we often experience less damage than our minds can produce through thought, and we also receive more good than our minds can produce through thought. In metaphysics this is known as the Law of Grace. Continue reading
The Karmic Fruit Of Our Past Life Seeds
To be the architect of our own destiny is a spiritual concept that has been spoken of for thousands of years. The Vedas call it Karma. The Bible refers to it as ‘reaping what you sow.’
Karma is a Sanskrit word that means action, as well as reaction. It has made its way into our everyday language to represent the good or bad we create in life that will eventually come back to us.
However, the true meaning of karma goes much deeper than that. In this life it does refer to ‘sowing and reaping’ in the short-term, but it also extends into the long-term, over thousands of years and many lifetimes.
The Padma Purana, an ancient Hindu encyclopedic text of spiritual truths, compares karma to seeds that are sown and harvested in due course of time. It explains that every activity we perform bears four kinds of effects. The first is merely a seed, the second is not yet fructified, the third is in the process of being fructified, and the fourth has blossomed and is already mature.
The karma we are experiencing today, are the sweet and sour fruits of the past seeds we have planted, – not only in this lifetime, but also from thousands of years and lifetimes before this life.
Therefore, we may not be able to recognize why certain things are happening that seem out of sync with the efforts and energies we are extending in the now. Similarly, it may sometimes be disheartening and difficult to understand why the desired results of our best endeavors do not appear to be coming to fruition.
To thoroughly resolve these misgivings, a broader scope of our soul’s journey before and beyond this one body and lifespan must be considered. Clarity can come with spiritual vision and higher consciousness.
Karma And The Law Of Attraction
It is quite common to hear of the ‘Law of Attraction’ these days. However, although the concept has become popularized in mainstream culture, it is actually an ancient spiritual concept. In metaphysics, it is one of the primary Universal Laws.
However, what is less commonly known is that the concept of Karma is secondary or sub-law to the Law of Attraction. The principle of Karma or Karmic Law is found in various religions and wisdom traditions, particularly Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, Jainism, and Sikhism. It prevails over multiple lifetimes and is associated with our soul evolution and rebirth.
To understand Karma, it is usually helpful to consider what it is not. Karma is not a punitive concept of punishment for the bad, and rewards for the good. Karma does not ‘come for us’ when we do bad or evil things. In fact, we can potentially resolve karmic patterns within a single lifetime, even before they manifest into actual events and experiences.
Karma is created through core belief patterns we have about ourselves, about life, and the world around us. These beliefs, mindsets and paradigms are often accumulated through many experiences over several lifetimes. And ‘negative karma’ is created when we consistently believe, for example, in things like fear, lack or limitation.
A good example is the Great Depression of the 1930s. During that time, many people focused on lack or limitation. There was a fear of poverty and hardship. These beliefs created many cultural challenges. For example, many parents abandoned their children and families.
This created a karmic paradigm for them, and if that paradigm was not cleared out in their lifetime, it will be repeated in future lifetimes, until it is cleared out. They will reincarnate in the next lifetime with this core belief still attached to their subconscious mind. In their next life they will likely experience abandonment themselves. Their abandonment is not the karma, their abandonment is the result of the actions that were taken as a result of their fear or false beliefs.
The Pagan Origins Of Valentine’s Day
Did you know that the Valentine’s Day that many people all over the world will be celebrating today, has its origins in pagan rituals of the past? This is in fact true of many of our modern holidays. But how did we get our modern day cards, cupids, and hearts?
In ancient Rome, the Festival of Lupercalia was annually celebrated on February 15th. As with similar Roman holidays, such as Ostara (Easter), this was a time to celebrate fertility and love. The deities honored were Lupercus, Patron of Shepherds; Juno, Goddess of Marriage; as well as Pan, a pastoral god who came to be regarded in Roman times as the representative of paganism and the personification of all nature.
In a festival custom that survives to this day in the form of valentine’s cards, young men would randomly draw the names of eligible women from a jar or urn. In the Middle Ages, Emperor Claudius II believed single men made better soldiers so he declared marriage illegal. As a concession, he encouraged temporary romances.
Drawing the name of a lady during the festival determined who a soldier’s partner would be for that coming year. He would then wear her name on his sleeve for the rest of the festival. This gave rise to the saying “wearing your heart on your sleeve.” Whether or not they also exchanged flowers, candy or gifts is uncertain.
It is also interesting to note that Cupid, the son of the love goddess Venus, was not originally linked specifically with this festival, even though he is associated with it today.Venus, it turns out, was particularly fond of red roses and this custom still survives after 2,000 years. As for the symbolism of the heart, this is also an ancient image found across many cultures, including Greco-Roman, Indian, and Meso-American. Instead of romantic love, it was often used to represent rebirth, purity, and spiritual love.